Improvement in cotton-presses



' 1 3 Sheets-=Shet E.--S.-WATSON.'

Cohan-Presses. v I 94 ,157,553, PatentedDec.8,1874.

I I I Attorneys THE GRAPHICCO, PHOTO'UTH39L41PARK PLACE, MY,

. 3Sh'eets--S heet 3 E. S. WATSON.

Cotton-Presses. v $10,157,558, Patented Dec. 8,1874.

WITNESSES INVENTQR Attsrneys U NITED STATES IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-PRESSE3.

Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 157,558, dated D.cember 8, 1874; application filed September 19, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIJAH S. WATSON, of Water Valley, in the county of Yalabusha and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Cotton-Press; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a representation of vertical sectional view of my cottonpress. Fig. 2 is a side view, Fig. 3 is an end view, and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view, of the same.

This invention has relation to cotton-presses of the upright kind; and the nature of the invention consists in a rotating sill for the follower-screw, whereby the said screw may be vibrated outwardly and downwardly to assume a reversed position, its upper end in the former place of its lower end, through slots in the sides of the press -box, and through the frame and its bed, when the said screw has been run up to its full extent in the act of pressing cotton, thereby dispensing with the usual tedious process of running down the follower-screw to make ready for a new charge. It also consists in a sash vertically movable in guides upon the uprights of the press-frame, arranged at each end of the follower-screw sill, whereby the said sill is held in place in its bearings when they are brought down upon it,

and is vertically movable for permitting the followerscrew to be thrust upward by the power applied by a lever to its lower end,when

.no other motive power is available.

In the annexed drawings, A designates the base or bed of my improved press, having mounted upon it a suitable circular pivot, 13, through both ofwhich a deep groove, a, is cut for the purpose of allowing the following-screw to be reversed. This pivot is rigidly secured in any suitable manner to the base A. O designates the platform of the press frame, constructed with a central aperture of nearly the same diameter as the pivot B, for the purpose of allowing it to be'mounted upon its bed, the said pivot being received into the aperture of the platform, upon which are erected four uprights, D, at each corner of a preferably oblong rectangle. This platform is also cut through from its central aperture to its outer edge, the width of the out being the same as that of the groove to. In this manner the base A, pivot B, and platform 0 are each provided with cuts or grooves, which may be made to register when desired, for the purpose of allowing the follower-screw to be swung outward, for a purpose hereinafter to be explained.

The uprights D are suitably braced against lateral displacement, and are provided with the usual hinged doors E. They are also provided with a press-box, F, of the usual construction, having outwardly-sliding doors f f situated at the lower portion of the press-box, and at that side thereof through which it is contemplated to reverse the follower-screw when it is vibrated outwardly. The lateral brace at the base of the said press-box is also cut through, serving a purpose which will be made clear at the same time as the above. The upper end of. the pressbox is provided with the common transverselygrooved lid G, which is held against upper displacement by staple-braces d, the free ends of which are pivotally secured to the uprights D, and their staple ends engaged over the ends of the said lid when a bale is in process of for mation. H designates a horizontally-rotating sill, arranged between the uprights D in the longer axis of the rectangular platform, and having its bearings upon the lower side braces of the frame. Upon either or both ends of this rotating sill a cogged wheel, I, is rigidly secured, affording means whereby it may be conveniently rotated by a claw-lever, J. K designates a cog-Wheel, which is arranged in a slot of the sill H, and which is provided with a central screw-threaded perforation, through which and through the said sill a followerscrew, S, is vertically passed. The teeth of this wheel are engaged with a w0rm,L, rigidly secured upon the horizontal shaft M, having suitable bearings upon the platform, and is actuated to run the screw up by means of water or steam power, applied through the medium of an endless belt and a grooved pulleywheel, m, upon the shaft. M designates a cross-head, applied in the usual well-known manner to each end of the follower-screw S,

FICE.

for the purpose of distributing the pressure of the said screw upon the followerN over alarger surface.

When the process of compressing a bale is completed it is usual to depress the follower by a reverse action of the motive power; but in my improved press the claw-lever J is applied to the cog-wheel I and the sill H caused to rotate, thus causing the screw S to vibrate outwardly and downwardly through the opening between the outwardly-sliding doors ff, made sliding for this purpose, through the divided lateral brace at the base of the pressbox, and finally through the slot or groove on of the platform C, the bed A, and pivot B, until its upper end has described an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees, thus placing the other cross-head in proper position for allowing the screw to be run up for the purpose of permitting the formation of another bale without inourrin g the loss of time employed in run- 11in g down the said screw. 0 designates weights applied to both ends of the follower by means of a suitable cord attached thereto and passing over staples or anti-friction pulleys 0, the time tion of which is to balance the follower and to hold it out of the way during the reversal of the follower-screw. The follower is let down upon. the cross-head by raising the weights.

When steam or water is not available as a motive power I may use horsepower without in any way disturbing any portion of the above mechanism, in the following manner: One or more sweeps are applied in staples, in the usual well-known manner, to the lateral edges of the press-frame, and the whole superstructure is caused to revolve around the axis or pivot B. The end of the screw being held in a constant position in the slot at of the bed, this revolution will cause the screw to be run up, thereby actuating the follower and compressing the mass.

. When neither steam, water, nor horse power is available, I can still actuate the follower by the use of a lever, P, applied within the slot a of the bed to the lower end of the screw S, thereby raising the screw and its vibrating sill in a mass. This I am enabled to do by means of the vertically-movable clamps Q, which are arranged at both ends of the sill H, and which are guided by strips q upon the uprights D.

When the power end of the lever is depressed its other end will be elevated, at the same time elevating the follower-screw and follower and compressing the mass.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The follower-screw S, having upon both ends a cross-head, m, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the follower-screw E, of the rotating sills H, substantially as sp eci' 3. The combination,with the outwardly-sliding doors f f, of the vibrating follower-screw S, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with the follower-screw S and the vertically-movable sill H, of the ver tically-movable clamping slides Q, substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the outwardly and downwardly vibrating screw S and the detached follower ofa cotton-press, of the weights 0, attached, by means of cords or chains, to the said follower, for the purpose of holding it up while the screw is being reversed, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

ELIJAH S. WATSON.

Witnesses:

J. F. DAVIDSON, G. W. PRICE. 

